Busy week of remembrance and celebration  

Allow me to share with you a summation of the various activities that went on in Cebu during a busy week of remembrance and celebration.

The Cebu Press Freedom Week returned this week to its in-person roots as it formally opened on Sunday morning, September 18 with a Holy Mass at the Cebu Archdiocesan Shrine of St. Pedro Calungsod. It was celebrated by Fr. Jonathan Rubin, head of Social Media Communications of the Archdiocese of Cebu. That afternoon, the Cebu Federation of Beat Journalists (CFBJ) held its election of officers, re-electing dyHP radioman and Superbalita reporter Arnold Bustamante as president.

By tradition, Cebu’s three English-language dailies including The FREEMAN published a pooled editorial on Monday, September 19 entitled “Race against forgetting the fight for freedom”. “The yearly (press freedom week) celebration is held on the week which has Sept. 21 in it, to remind citizens that martial law led to the most flagrant violations against press freedom and free speech, and that this could happen again if they are not vigilant,” says the editorial, “It’s a daunting task, however, to keep the memory of those dark days alive.”

Visayan Electric sponsored a “Power Lunch with Media” at 11 a.m. that same day. On Tuesday, September 20, The FREEMAN held an online forum entitled “New government: What’s in store for Philippine media?” with speakers One News host Ed Lingao and CFBJ president Arnold Bustamante. At 11 a.m., newspaper editors were invited to a lunch gathering at Fina Restaurant by Nustar Resort and Casino.

On September 21, Wednesday, Sun.Star Cebu brought back its annual “Reaching Out to Future Journalists” forum entitled “Truth or Dare: An Interactive Media Fair". The event was held at the Performing Arts Hall of the University of the Philippines Cebu. Christian Esguerra, host of "Facts First" on YouTube and former news anchor at ABS-CBN News Channel, spoke about fighting disinformation, while historian and opinion columnist Manuel "Manolo" Quezon III spoke about fighting historical revisionism. Elijah Mendoza, PLDT and Smart head of digital communications, gave a talk about cybersecurity, including phishing and smishing.

At 1 p.m., UP Cebu's 1081 organization opened its "1081: Interactive Retrospective Exhibit" to the public. At 2:30 p.m., Cebu martial law veterans and guests gathered at the UP Cebu Arts and Sciences building lobby for the launching of the book “Martial Law in Cebu: Stories of Life and Struggle During the Marcos Dictatorship,” a collection of articles from 21 contributing writers, edited and published by Atty. Democrito Barcenas. This activity, organized by the Barcenas family, was part of a week-long remembrance of martial law arranged by the UP Cebu community dubbed “Day of Remembrance: Advancing Academic Freedom in this Era of Disinformation, and Correcting Historical Myths of Martial Law”.

The book launching drew a crowd of old and young alike, including Cebu’s intellectuals and human rights veterans, as well as students who by their presence demonstrated their willingness to carry the torch of vigilance in helping protect this nation from the evils of disinformation and revisionism. Theirs is the call that “there can be no moving on without an accounting of the past, nor forgiveness without justice and reparation.” That is correct, because those who say we should conveniently move on and just forget the lessons of the past are bound to condemn their children and grandchildren to face a future of abuse.

On Thursday, September 22, the Cebu Citizens-Press Council (CCPC) held its en banc meeting which reelected Dr. Pureza Oñate as its president to serve a fresh term of three years. Later that afternoon, I told Dr. Oñate that retirement from community and civic engagement is only for the oldies, that she’s still very sharp at her age. This after she complimented me about looking like in my twenties when I told her I’m actually already in my forties.

Doctor Oñate together with CCPC Deputy Director Marit Stinus-Cabugon presided over the forum that afternoon entitled “What’s troubling about the cyber-libel law?” with guest speaker Atty. Pepita Jane Petralba, USC Law professor and former Cebu chief provincial prosecutor. I was moderator of the forum which drew a sizable crowd of college students, lawyers, and journalists at the Marcelo Fernan Press Center in Sudlon, Lahug.

This evening, members of the Cebu media will have their dinner fellowship program at the Seda Ayala Center Cebu to formally close the week-long press freedom week celebration.

Indeed, it’s a week we collectively say: Never again. Never forget.